Agusti
The Agusti are a minor subculture of humans, named for the Agusti tribe that emerged in the northwestern Black Morass between 2200 and 1800 P.C. It is defunct as a modern political entity, but Agusti people still dwell in the Barony of Augustholm, still ruled by descendants of the original tribal chieftains. History The Agusti first emerged as a nomadic human tribe in the central Black Morass, though by the year 2000 P.C. they had migrated into the swampland's northwestern-most reaches. Much of the Agusti's early history is known through three stone monuments, commonly called Waystones, found in the modern Barony of Augustholm. The First Waystone, discovered just west of the Barrier Hills, is the oldest, bearing the earliest forms of the Agusti's written language. The Second and Third Waystones were found together near the Augustholm estate. First Waystone The First Waystone was found just west of the Barrier Hills, along the southern bank of the River Sorrow. The inscriptions on the First Waystone, written in a now-extinct form of the Augustan language, are traditionally attributed to Baldmund the Wise, an Agusti tribal chieftain estimated to have lived sometime between 1900 and 1800 P.C., but two other earlier chieftains, Balnöd the Tall and Bagdöd, are mentioned as well. The First Waystone depicts the migration of the Agusti from elsewhere in the Black Morass to escape famine and external pressures, likely from the nearby Gurubashi Empire. Second Waystone The Second Waystone was found in the ruins of Augustholm after the Arathorian conquest. The Second Waystone bears a rough transcription of the events depicted on the First Waystone, which was believd to have been done by the chieftain Baldragon sometime between 1850 and 1700 P.C. However, more importantly, it chronicles much of the tribal history going forward from this point, all the way up to approximately 1236 P.C. with its depiction of the ascendance of Balteth Agust to the position of chieftain. During this time, the Agusti established a more permanent settlement at the site of the future Augustholm estate and developed relations, both friendly and hostile, with neighboring human tribes. The Second Waystone is also the first explicit acknowledgment of the Gurubashi, depicting battles between the trolls and the Agusti starting with the chieftain Baldred the Bloody. It was during this period that the precursor to House Auguste began to emerge, as chieftains began to take on the surname Agust, as proof of their embodying the will of their people. After 1236 P.C., the Agusti shifted their style of recording history to a parchment-based system, and the Waystones became disregarded. Third Waystone The Third Waystone is believed to have been crafted in approximately 1350 P.C. and offers a more poetic depiction of the ascension of the chieftain Baldegröd Agust the Hierophant around 1400 P.C. It also lays out the basic tenets of the worship of Heol, a traditional Agusti deity whose worship is believed to have begun around this period and continued as the primary religion until the Arathorian conquest in 899 P.C. Unlike the first two Waystones, which are seen as imperfect but fairly accurate depictions of Agusti history, the Third Waystone's inscription is more legend than history. According to the Waystone's inscription, Baldegröd, the firstborn son of the chieftain Baldmyr Agust, is passed off for leadership in favor of his younger brother Balech; it is unclear from the Waystone if this was due to manipulation on Balech's part or was simply the will of the old chieftain. Regardless, Balech, threatened by Baldegröd's presence, banishes him out into the Black Morass to die. However, Baldegröd survives off the land and eventually comes across a winged serpent called Heol. This being shares great and terrible power with Baldegröd and offers to help him reclaim his place as chieftain of the Agusti in exchange for his people's worship. Baldegröd accepts these terms. Meanwhile, under Balech's disjointed, paranoid rule, the Agusti have fallen into anarchy. Baldegröd returns then as a prophet figure, enlightening the Agusti people and ultimately challenging Balech for the right to rule. With the help of Heol, Baldegröd defeats his brother, who becomes the first blood sacrifice to Heol. The rest of the stone depicts traditional rituals and rites of Heol, many of which include the sacrifice of livestock and other beasts. A select few include human sacrifice. Adherents to Heol are encouraged to participate in the public rituals of the chief priests - called Hierophants - and to spread Heol's teachings to the worthy and sacrifice the unworthy as offerings to the bloody god. Kings of the Agusti Modern parchment records begin during the reign of Valtathe Auguste (rendered Balteth Agust on the Second Waystone), though substantive records have only been recovered starting with the coronation of Valstarian Auguste the Conqueror in approximately 1080 P.C. By this time, the old tribal chieftains had organized into a prototype of House Auguste and had claimed the title of King of the Agusti, symbolized by a dark iron crown. Under the Conqueror's rule, and later his grandson's rule, the Agusti subjugated the other human tribes of the northwestern Black Morass, consolidating them into a proto-kingdom bearing the name of the Agusti, centered around the settlement of Augustholm. Beginning with Valstarian the Conqueror, there are five known Kings of the Agusti whose deeds are well-recorded: Valstarian I, Valstarian II (known as the Quick, for his short reign), Valstarian III (known as the Great), Vales Valens, and Valesarian. Valesarian, coronated in 922 P.C. and ruling until his death in 899 P.C., would be the last ruler of Augustholm to call himself King of the Agusti. Arathorian Conquest Around 900 P.C., remnants of the Arathorian Empire took the southern reaches of the Eastern Kingdoms by storm, and Augustholm was no exception. After sacking many of the outer settlements of the Agusti, the Arathorian army, under the command of Iodus Northour, met King Valesarian and the Agusti army in battle just north of the fork in the River Sorrow. Outmatched by the numerically and technologically superior Arathorian army, Valesarian retreated back to Augustholm, where his forces were surrounded and routed. Valesarian was killed in this final battle, and many of his family were executed. Valesarian's 14-year-old niece Valencia was taken as a bride by Commander Northour, securing his new position as military governor by marriage. Under Arathorian rule, many Agusti traditions were consumed by their new overlords. The traditional naming system of the Agusti rulers was replaced by Arathorian conventions; there would not be another ruler bearing a purely Agusti name until Valyrian the Younger in 794 P.C. Even more significantly, the Hierophants of Heol, deemed heretics by the Arathorian Church of the Holy Light, were systematically hunted down and purged, particularly after the Hierophants managed to ignite a political rebellion in 881 P.C., resulting in the death of Commander Northour. The Church's grip on Augustholm became increasingly pronounced as Valencia made a very public and miraculous conversion, taking on the "Saint" surname that has been part of the ruling house ever since. By the time of Logan Wrynn's insurrection against the Arathorian Empire in 6 P.C., Agusti was little more than an antiquated name for the culturally Arathorian people living in the Barony of Augustholm. Culture and Traditions The modern Agusti have long since been assimilated into Stormwindian culture, and in practice there are very few differences between a human of Agusti descent and a human of Stormwindian descent. However, the Agusti still take pride in their ancient traditions, and many among them still consider themselves a distinct cultural group from the rest of the Kingdom of Stormwind. The Agusti language today known as Old Augustan is actually a hybrid between the old Arathorian tongue and the tongue of the pre-conquest Agusti, hence its similarities to Common. Most old Agusti texts at least have translations into Old Augustan, if not Common, and as such it is typically seen by the Agusti as their language. However, there is both a written and spoken language predating Old Augustan, as seen on the Waystones. This language, which has no known name, is considered a dead language, and its spoken component is no longer known. The Agusti highly value continuity in naming conventions. Firstborn sons would often share the names of their fathers, leading to highly dynastic lineages even among commoners. When the Agusti culture blended with Arathorian culture and Agusti began to take on Arathorian names, this tradition developed into a matronymic/patronymic system, with many Agusti taking on a second dynastic name in addition to their everyday Common one. For instance, the last three rulers of House Saint-Auguste - Louis Valyrian, Barathen Valyrian, and Clara Valyrie - have all born variations of the namesake Valyrian, harkening back to the famous Baron Valyrian the Elder. Hierophancy of Heol The traditional Agusti religion, worshipping the blood god Heol, has largely died out due to militant pressures by the Arathorian Church of the Holy Light soon after the conquest, but remnants of its legacy remain. The ascending dragon sigil of House Saint-Auguste, for instance, is actually a corruption of an older sigil of Heol, Himself depicted as a winged serpent. The chief priests of Heol, known as Hierophants, practiced both shadow and blood magic, and there are rumors that some of these dark magicians still dwell in the town of Shade's End, itself named for one of the aspects of Heol. Modern scholars have noted many practical and thematic similarities between Heol and the Gurubashi loa Hakkar, including the depiction of the deity as a winged serpent and the blood magicks practiced by devotees. This, coupled with the emergence of the Heol cult within a century or two of the Atal'ai's exodus into the Swamp of Sorrows, has led to the hypothesis that Heol and Hakkar are in fact one and the same, and that the Agusti picked up a corrupted version of the Gurubashi religion after prolonged contact with the Atal'ai priesthood. Category:Races Category:Human Clans